Supernatural Exec: Musical Episode Would Be 'Risky,' But Is Still a Very Real Possibility

Picture this: An episode ofSupernatural (Fridays at 9/8c) that begins just like any other (demons, souls in peril, etc;), and then — bam! — Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles break into song, all the while looking dapper as can be. Sounds ah-mazing, no? Well, through no prodding of my own, executive producer Bob Singer tells TVLine that just such a much-desired outing may finally be on the way (should the CW series receive a Season 7).

Also in this Q&A: more details on the boys’ trip to the Old West, the search for Eve, and what Singer really thought of the meta experimental “French Mistake.”

TVLINE | Congratulations on the buzzy meta episode, “The French Mistake.” Were you at all surprised to have pulled off such a monumental feat so seamlessly?
We were really thrilled that the reaction was so good, because we’d certainly talked about how it could have been shooting ourselves in the foot. [Laughs] This is terrible to say because it sounds so self-congratulatory, but I really thought it was one of the best episodes of television I ever saw. Everybody in it was just great — Ben Edlund wrote a great script, Charles Beeson directed the hell out of it, and the scene where the boys had to “act”… I must have seen it 50 times now and I laugh every time. It fit into our overall storytelling, too, and impacted what’s going on in the series in a meaningful way. I thought it succeeded on every level.

TVLINE | But now you have set the bar on these outside-the-box episodes so high. Is there any worry around Camp Supernatural that you won’t be able to top it? Or is there already something in the works?
Well, we’ve done the Western now (“Frontierland,” airing April 22), and we’ve done our meta episode… but from Year One, there have been two things we’ve talked about: How do you do a musical? And how do you do a cartoon? We haven’t found a way to do either one of those yet, but I’m sure it’ll come up in conversation for next season, an animated show or a musical. Musicals are really risky ground, but we do talk about it.

TVLINE | Speaking of the Western episode, talk a little about what fans can expect.
It’s a lot of fun. We’ve wanted to do a Western for a long time, and finally found the right platform to launch it. Everyone had a great time making it, especially Jensen [Ackles], who was just dying to do this one. It’s very organic to our storytelling and steeped in the much earlier mythology that we told in Season 2, right up to the current mythology. We’re very happy with the episode.

TVLINE | How exactly does it tie into the present day storyline?
It has to do with [Eve] the mother of all monsters and how you combat her, because clearly this a very powerful force at work here and a real challenge to the guys. But going back to when they got Samuel Colt’s weapon, they now get something out of his journal that can be helpful to them in dealing with the mother. That’s why they go back to the Old West.

TVLINE | Is there a satisfying conclusion to the Eve storyline?
Eve’s story gets its rightful conclusion, and from there we go on to basically wrap up the season-long mystery, which was our plan for the year. Early on, we had decided to tell this 22-hour film noir mystery, and peel the onion away slowly.

TVLINE | Does the season end on an ambiguous note? Or is everything neatly wrapped up?
It’s a solid ending for the main arc of the season, but we do have a cliffhanger that hopefully will carry over the summer and take us into a new story in Season 7. We answer all the questions that the audience might have, but we leave one very big cliffhanger there.

TVLINE | Did you approach this finale as if it might be the end of the series? Or were you thinking — rather, hoping — you’d be renewed and given the opportunity to tell more of the story?
[Renewal] was the hope. We had discussions about how to end [the series, and] at one point, everything in terms of this season’s storyline was going to be closed. But then we saw an opportunity for what we thought was a really good cliffhanger, and we hoped for a next year. In terms of good storytelling, we just thought this was a better idea.

TVLINE | Best-case scenario: Supernatural is picked up for a seventh season — what’s the game plan?
Most of it’s up in the air. The only thing that we have talked about is that since this year was kind of an old-fashioned noir mystery, next year may have the boys being Butch and Sundance, or the Wild Bunch. Basically, it’d be telling the a story of the last of the cowboys, gone modern. That’s just a jumping-off point. Whether we actually do that or how that realizes itself… we haven’t gotten that far yet. But there’s an idea of, “The world is closing in around you.”

Are you hoping a musical episode finally pans out? Eager to watch the boys play cowboy? Sound off below, and catch Supernatural Fridays at 9/8c on The CW.

Haha I’m exactly the opposite! I would love a musical episode, but I’m not so sure about a cartoon one.
The idea for season 7 also sounds really cool. I’ve liked this season but I do miss the boys being all out there, and one of the reasons I love Supernatural is because it provides instant gratification with the monster of the week but also a wonderful overall arc, but this season has felt less like that and more like many different huge arcs that haven’t been properly addressed (in my opinion. I know that many people disagree).

A musical with Classic Rocks songs would be amazing. If there is a season 7, I would love to see Crowley, Gabriel and he-witch Patrick return. Not sure about the need of a cartoon episode, there is the Supernatural anime after all. I would rather have a second season of the anime dealing with season 3 and 4 of the live-action show.

A “Sausage fest”? What about all the females we’ve had? The only one worth anything was Bella. I’m annoyed by pretty much every other woman they’ve had. True, Jo and Ellen were fun. But in the end, their deaths made them great.

All the females have simply been eye candy for the most part, or evil. That’s what makes it a sausage fest – a bunch of guys and flirty blondes etc, etc. Even Bella – who for the most part was an EPIC foil – was used in this capacity. Even Jo. Only Ellen has been on the show without one of the boys wanting to do her.

Well there is that new female angel their introducing this season to be on Cas’s side during this whole war with heaven thing that’s going on. The series has had some great female characters but they dont seem to stick around long enough or they die

Well that’s your opinion. Unless they change the format of the show, road show to smalltown drama, a good female character simply doesn’t work. The girl will either be a love interest, a demon or both. Besides season 6 already had Lisa and ‘Supernatural’ proved they couldn’t find a storyline for her besides being involved with Dean.

A musical would be very appropriate for supernatural because they have often told stories outside the box…Mystery Spot, Changing Channels and The French Mistake…and shooting in black & white…very clever. So come on give us a series 7 so we can see Sam & Dean embarrassed some more…they know what their fans want.

A musical episode sounds great, unlinke some other shows, it can actually be perfectly explained on a show like Supernatural! All the classic rocks song we’ve heard the past six years, now sung by our own heroes, I would LOVE it!

Really hoping for seventh season, there’s still plenty of story to tell and I can’t wait to see where they would take it.
Just… Can they give us some continuity already on Chuck and Adam? I wanna know more about whether or not Chuck was God, or whatelse he was. I also find it very hard to believe that Sam and Dean would leave their brother burning in hell. Sure, they’re not close, but Adam’s their brother, and it bothers me that nobody on that show seems to even remotely WANT to save him.

as long as there is a full next season i am happy, musical don t mind either way, but please no cartoon! i don t want an episode without the actor just drawn, really that would be worse than a clip show

I am SO glad to see the Butch/Sundance idea i am all for a season that goes back to Sam and Dean being a cohesive beautiful unit where words aren’t necessary. It’s all about the brothers for me so I could do with the toning down of angels and heaven and hell and the focus back on the winchesters with us seeing them hustling, prank warring and still hunting but on a less cataclysmic scale.

Give me Cas over Bobby anytime. Bobby had overstayed his welcome, but Cas is a thing of beauty and with Cas and Dean, the show is a winner. Too bad the PTBs are a bit too dense to understand which characters are more dynamic and keep pushing the least ones front and center. Gamble kind of sucks as a showrunner. Give me Bobby Singer anytime, at least he’s not all about one character and one character only, though I wish he’d have more to tell about Dean’s future role on SPN that doesn’t involve Dean being all about Sam. If the brothers relationship works, it works when they are shown to care about each other, not when it’s just about what a special snowflake Sam is and how much Dean is all about his brother and nothing more. Which is why I love Cas, he’s not Sam.

Go rain on the parade somewhere else, damn Dean!girl (Sam!girls can go elsewhere too, just so we’re clear). Because true fans of Supernatural know that this is the Sam AND Dean show, other characters are all secondary and often cannon fodder. Haters on Sam (I see more of those because the obvious is that Deangirls outnumber Samgirls) have obviously forgotten that the show is about two brothers fighting the supernatural. There is no focus on any one brother more than the other. This is about both of them, the Winchesters. Hunting evil, having each others backs, dealing with problems that come their way, the good times, the bad times (lots of those), the emotional struggles, and uphill battles.

In fact if you watched My Heart Will Go On tonight (most SPN fans should have) and read all the spoilers and interviews available then, you’d know Cas is not really a trustworthy ally for the brothers (especially as this season moves towards it’s end). In fact my theory after tonight’s ep is we are headed for an SPN betrayal of “Ruby” proportions. But this time its everyone’s favorite angel in the role of the demon and Dean in the role of the fiddle that was played. But I’m sure if that happens we won’t hear the endless moaning about how Dean was stupid and manipulated and blind to the situation like we did for Sam (well except from the Samgirls but they’re less in number so sometimes I don’t mind hearing their side once in a while when it’s valid, both boys have their faults and have made their mistakes, so I’m kind of tired of Dean the saint and Sam the wicked).

My final message for both sides, just stop a moment and consider what each brother has done for the other when they’ve died. You can’t have one without the other. They get rid of Sam and it will be the end of Dean’s story too. He wouldn’t go on fighting with Cas as his sidekick like I’ve heard some people go on about wanting. We saw that at the end of season 5 – season 6. Dean was done had Robo-Sam not been brought back. And honestly from here I think if one dies again they’re both gonna go because only that will put an end to their vicious cycle of sacrifices for each other.

I do NOT belive Bobby has overstayed his welcome.In fact I dont think he EVER will. Bobby is FAMILY,and that is EXACTLY what this show is about. I like cas,but cas is NOT the family that Bobby is,at least not yet. In fact as much as I like cas,I’ve been struggling with his place in supernatural. I’m ready for the show to go back to that intimate feel that it had in season 1,and i’m sorry,but angels and heaven do NOT bring in that intimate feeling.

I also wish everyone would stop with the yelling at deangirls,and samgirls,or even cas girls. Please realize that extreme fans exist in ALL areas and do NOT represent ALL deangirls,samgirls,or casgirls. I’m just so sick of being lumped in with these extreme fans that make the rest of us more sane and normal fans look like crap….

I think that the writers would be able to pull off a musical episode like Joss Whedon. The only problem I can think of is that while Buffy had a large cast, Supernatural only has a few, so less characters to sing and an full cast song would just be four people at most

If the music is the same as it has been the past 6 Seasons, Classic Rock and it was worked into the script properly ,then I would say OK.
Anything else no way.
The music on Supernatural is a pivotal part of the show.
It always has been.
If they start doing some sort of Glee nonsense on Supernatural then it would be a s&ckfest.

I would totally love a musical! Jensen Ackles singing would be a thing of beauty!

I am so happy that the overall arc of Season Sux will be all resolved by the finale. Yay to the end of Eve and of Sam’s Soul behind the Wall angst. The new cliffhanger most likely has to do with Dean and Cas on opposite sides. I’d so look forward to watching the resolution to that in Season 7.

Dear God NOT a musical ep! We know Jensen can sing, not sure about Jared or anyone else for that matter. Personally I love musicals, Joss and the cast did “Once More with Feeling” (Buffy) beautifully, however, given a choice personally I’d rather see a semi/toon-ish ep ala Farscape, now THAT, with these writers could be utterly spectacular! (and I don’t like funny eps). But as a 7 year fan i’m begging… no musical ep. Please.

I agree with you, I definitely don’t want a musical episode. Musical episodes have become such a cliche lately. Supernatural doesn’t need this kind of nonsense, the writers should focuse instead in creating good solid story arcs.

That was a very nice article you wrote there, Meg. I see you’ve found another host. You go in more women than I do. Congratulations, Meg. Sam has tracked you down and is on his way, probably listening to Dave Matthews or some other crap. Winchesters -1 Demon Meg – 0

SPN YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU, BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD NOOOOOO DONT DO IT. J AND J TELL SARAH NO, WE HAVE ENOUGH OF THOSE ON TV ALREADY.
JUST GIVE ME A DAMN PLOT. LOL
STOP TRYING SO HARD TO DO ALL THESE THINGS BECAUSE YOU LEAVING THE BASIS OF THE SHOW.

OFCOURSE I WILL WATCH IT CAUSE IM LOYAL BUT MY HEAD WILL BE UNDER MY BLANKET.

Yes please to a Season 7! And PLEASE let this be more of what we were promised this season – all about the brothers,Sam and Dean, Butch & Sundance. I’ve actually quite enjoyed this season, but I’ve a feeling S7 may be the last one the two J’s sign up for and I want it to be more like the good old days. Also agree with those speculating about Cas – I think we’ve been set up last couple of Seasons and he’s gonna turn out to betray the brothers in a big way. And please, no more Lisa & Ben. I’m not one of those who hates all the woman on this show (I actually thought Ruby was an awesome character in both her Kate Cassidy and Genevieve portrayals, I liked Anna, even liked the girl from the Monster Movie episode, and am probably the only one who likes Cassie from Season 1,lol!), I just feel that those two bring Dean’s character down. Season 7 FTW!

Musical episode? I don’t think thats a bad idea at all! We’ve all seen that Supernatural can pull off amazing comedic episodes whilst keeping it relevant to the story arc, cliche’ or not I’d watch it :)